Erithacus

Back to the scene of his major triumphs: 2012-15 under his management saw several league and cup wins (assuming Vicky Jepson is making way).

The thought is that Liverpool were such serial winners then, but have now spent a couple of unremarkable seasons and ended up third in the second tier (behind Leicester City and Durham). It's not a place where a glittering history makes much impact. Tough times ahead, methinks.

Beard's departure was not unexpected as there were rumours of other irons in the fire. However, that clearly points to Oxtoby returning so it would appear the club has started to get things organised. The sooner the retained players are known the sooner the work can start. The Championship is going to be a tough place - much tougher than the last time the girls topped it.

The first of how many? Especially disappointing seeing as she has come through the Academy.

Two prime names I fear will go are Ebony Salmon and Sophie Baggaley, both of whom contributed heavilly to the side's successes this season (what there were of them) and could be just the job for another WSL team.

Has there been any indication from the club about who is going to be in charge from now? Getting the side organised will be most important and the sooner they start, the better.

A final game defeat then, no need to hope for other teams to help.

A really big disappointment for so many on the team, on and off the pitch, but the table does not lie. We weren't up to the mark. It will be a difficult season in the Championship, especially if the better players move on. How will the club's leading lights prepare for it?

4 minutes ago, marmite said:

What a sterling year for Bristol professional football.

The Covid season of 2020-21 in Bristol has been a crash. No-one saw it and perhaps that was a factor.

Birmingham go 1-0 down but that's not going to matter it seems.

A piece of judicious judgement passed down from the FA. I can see if they deducted ten points it would cause some upset, or did nothing there would be calls from different clubs. This has made the last game a nail-biter and muddied the picture. However, we still need a win; the only difference is that there are two other clubs that need a result. In theory we have a better chance - slightly.

Maybe the bookies are enjoying it more now.

COYR

Are there any relevant regulations or judicial decisions that we can reliable turn to? Has there been a previous case that might guide us? I can't think of one off hand in the Women's game, but the men's seem to vary according to the authorities.

So it's a 0-1 defeat. Not good news, but perhaps more important was the fact that Villa are now two points ahead. A draw versus the Gunners might see them safe regardless. Same applies to Birmingham and West Ham. Even if City win at Brighton, that might be out of our hands. Next week will be a shootout. Great for the neutrals but not for those involved.

Well the Villa game ends 0-0 and that makes it a one point gap for CIty (with a draw against United a given at the moment). Still not an open door yet.

Also a crazy end to the Chelsea-Bayern Champions' League semi. Coach Emma Hayes an emotional tizzy and giving an unreconstructed post-match interview.

Have to be realistic and say I'm not too hopeful of today's game against Man U - even though we do have form! A point would be a real boost. The bigger test is Brighton next time out, but I'll be keeping an eye out for the Villa/Hammers match. Anything for the Villains and it will make City's task much more difficult.

COYR!

If the West Ham/Villa game remains goalless, a draw would drop City to the bottom.

Concerning report about the state of things at Birmingham. Seems the women's side is being given second rate treatment by the club and the squad is making it official. Also concerning is the note about the FA helping them to complete their fixtures. Does this make the picture more cloudy?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56642488

I'd like to think it will be to the girls' advantage, but I suspect that Arsenal will not crumble because of that.

A decent result, but a win would have been better. Equaliser from ex-Vixen Murray.

Now third from bottom, a point ahead of Villa and two ahead of the Hammers. Both have two games in hand though and more importantly they play each other twice before the end of the season. It's going to be a close one.

Match stats look pretty even, just the matter of who finishes better perhaps. Or who wants it more.

COYP&L!

The Blues wear blue/white, we wear purple/lime? Seems an easy one to confuse over blue against red. But that's what the ref has called - let's hope there's no need to complain about it afterwards.

A repeat of the same fixture from thirteen months ago will do nicely.

Handily, West Ham and Spurs both lost today. Villa are at Chelsea so the City girls have an opportunity to grab three points at Brum tomorrow. Vital games, vital results.

Ends 1-1 then. Really need wins from somewhere. You know what they say about beating the teams around you.

Set pieces do work. The skipper pops up for a corner and heads one in! Game on.

1-1

Salmon then smashes a 20-yard volley onto the post. Fraction away.

Ah, that must make us a selling club. Football's equivalent to Sisyphus.

Meantime, the girls are off to a bad start: 1 down to a free kick after 3 mins. 

An interesting decision. Just who made it and were they part of an independent government department or a football insider? It is a highly political move that has highlighted the uneven financial playing field we have at the top of the women's game. What do the excluded teams make of it?

I guess it works out to about £100,000 for City. Useful but not a game-changer.

Not so bad as some might have predicted and the stats seem to show it wasn't all one-way traffic. Cause for optimism?

Crucially, Villa lost as well but the Hammers earned a 2-2 draw. That lifts them up on GD with City back on the bottom, Villa a point above. The bottom five teams are now separated by just 4 points. It's going to be a desperate end to this season.

A real test of the girls' mettle, and back to Twerton. It will show Beard who has the appetite for the fight for the rest of the season.

Elsewhere, West Ham take on Birmingham and Villa are home to Brighton - both could be key games.

COYR! COYV!

The reality of modern English football regardless of gender: money talks and the WSL might stand for Wealth Secures Leadership. It will prompt many to ask how the Vixens fit into the overall Bristol Sport portfolio, but if they had remained as The Academy you might ponder where would they be now?

Either way, it is what it is. Move on to the Man City game, (possibly not much joy there) but then it's up against Spurs, Birmingham and Villa - all vital matches.

What a disappointment that turned out to be. It's a real shame that City were comprehensively outclassed but that's the reality: Chelsea's bench had more internationals than the Vixens' squad. The gulf was enormous and after an awful start there was only one way this game would pan out.

I was hoping the girls would show more of the sort of abilities they have in recent weeks but we hardly had a sniff. Perhaps a consolation goal would have been handy.

We might look at the starting formation and question it but I don't think that mere tactics were the problem. Chelsea thought quicker, ran quicker and were a country mile better technically. They were expecting good things to happen and made them. Simple.

City had some respectable individual performances but overall were second best in almost all departments, too often arriving behind the opponents.

Mielda's injury looks pretty bad, maybe the curse of the female knee. As an international that will be a serious worry.

But in the fullness of time, we need to be back to the routine of league games. It might be that we're used to adversity - after all, we lost 9-0 to Chelsea before so maybe there is something to hang on to.